burning out my alternator
 

hey, im running an MTX TC4004 and a kicker SX1250 with a 3 farad capacitor. i know both of these amps must be drawing atleast 50 amps from my alternator, and to run the car itself takes another 50. i have a 02 OZ rally and if im not mistaken the output for the alternator is 85 amps. if i kept this setup without upgrading to another alternator will it eventually burn it out? or anything else i can do to take stress off my alternator?

thanks

I know the answer, but you won't want to hear it.


Turn the music down, and the amps won't draw so much power. A second battery and/or a higher-powered alternator would help, too.

My recomendation is to ditch the 3 farad cap as most of the time a cap only causes more strain on the alternator. Think about it this way the cap is charging and discharging constantly especially on a song with more bass, meaning the alternator will just constantly be charging the cap creating more of a strain on the alt. Your best bet in my opinion would be to go with an aftermarket alternator like ohio generator, Iraggi Alternators, Excessive Amperage. If you dont belive me do some reading on this site http://glasswolf.net/tutorials/index.html the guy in an electrical engineer. He has been in the car audio business for over 15 years. Also when you go to replace your alternator you should replace the wires going from these areas
motor to chassis ground
alternator to battery positive terminal
battery negative terminal to chassis ground
battery positive terminal to amplifiers or distribution block
amplifier(s) to chassis ground

Im going to replacing those particular wires with 1/0 wire when I get an aftermarket alternator.

thanks, i have heard good things about the ohio generators. is there anywhere to buy them online?

There is no way you need a new alternator with your system. Amplifiers don't draw current like your lights blower and other high current electrical items in your car. Music is dynamic and the draw will vary. You will not draw half of the current the fuses are rated on the amplifiers. The absolute worst thing that would happen is that your battery takes longer to reach 13.8V and the alternator has to charge more often. I had a 7 year old stock Acura alternator in my competition car that ran Zapco 9.0C2K (175A), Zapco 6.0C2K (90A), Zapco 2.5C2K (45A). If my old stock alternator can handle "over 300A of draw" you have nothing to worry about.

The cap is worthless. A 3 farad would be a carbon alloy type which do absolutely nothing for an audio system as they discharge no faster than the much larger battery already in the car.

yeah it does vary greatly, but my lights are already dimming greatly at low RPMs just with 1 amp installed, the alternator working harder to power 2 amps plus the car and other aftermarket electrical

mine dim pretty bad even @ 60+ at night...

That means your install has issues, if you have the cap with that small of a system and have major dimming I would think you have a poor ground, a power wire not large enough for the draw or haven't upgraded the factory ground leads. You may also be driving an amp with a poor power supply design into heavy clipping which could make it VERY inefficient. The alternator is not your problem, a battery can buffer 50A of draw without trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I know that replacing an alternator is serious coin, but wouldn't it be safest to do so? I mean, the "Just In Case" clause? Kinda like the tire jack, roadside kits, and the biggest joke of all, Insurance? All things they say you need, but seriously hope you don't use? *Note - I say insurance is a joke becasue you are required by law to get raped dry by the insurance companies to drive, and as my friend found out, for your 'premium' for full coverage means crap, becasue he got hit while turning through an intersection on a stale yellow as it turned red, yet he got charged, he got the insurance hike, the insurance company had to fix the car that hit him, and the insurance company refused to cover the work on his car.... see what I mean by joke?* In the same breath, wouldn't it be safer to just upgrade the alternator, even if all you are running is a 100 watt amp for highs, just so while you may not need it now, you can add the monster later?

THe stock alternator isn't likely to be your problem. The important thing here is that there is a problem and though having more current can't be a bad thing, if you don't fix the cause of your system trouble it will still be there with the larger alternator. Sort of like putting C16 in the lawnmower to get finished cutting the grass faster with a lawnmower that has dull blades.

ground wires might help

A Second battery will NOT help! It will put a bigger strain than any cap would put on the system. Your alternater sees the battery as another load... and the only time the current comes out of the battery is if the alternator CAN"T KEEP UP! and thats BOUND to happend..... THE ONLY REASON to EVER ... and I mean EVER to get another battery wired parralel with eachother is if you want to listen to music while the car is off. This config would also need a battery isolator so that at least you can start your car even if you completely drain out your trunk battery.

Go with a high powered alternator --- nothing else besides bigger power/ground wires. The money you spend on 2 batteries or a high power cap.. you can get your alternator rebuilt for the same amount.